For the past few seasons, the Miami Heat have been good, not great. Even that may be giving them too much credit. However, in the words of Dwyane Wade, the Heat is missing a star player who could bring a certain "buzz" to the city, and one who could help transform the culture.
Right now, the Heat has a respectable culture. But they need a star player who could help them get over the championship hump. One that would also help inject the fan base with a certain level of excitement that they haven't had in years.
Dwyane Wade states the obvious for the Heat
"The city needs to be woken up. It’s not alive no more. When we was here it was buzzing in these streets. We been here last couple days ain’t nothing buzzing outside. I thought I was bout to stay here but I’m leaving cause ain’t no energy here. This city needs that person who can bring that energy here. No one’s here. When Shaq came, the culture shifted. I been here last couple of days, I’m sleepy."Dwyane Wade
While there are some in the fan base that will view this as somewhat insulting from Wade, he couldn't be more right. Again, the Heat have a great culture. They're likely going to make the playoffs this season.
But there's no "buzz" with this team. They may secure a key win here and there, but when the playoffs roll around, no one (not even Heat fans) will be expecting this team to make much noise. No one will be expecting the Heat to make it out of the first round.
And a big part of that is that they don't quite have that one player who can significantly raise the ceiling for this roster. Wade notes the time the organization traded for Shaquille O'Neal as the moment everything changed for the Heat in the mid-2000s.
In many ways, that's when the stakes got real for the Heat. They need that type of acquisition again, but that's often easier said than done.
The big frustration for Heat fans
Miami doesn't have that level of player right now, and it's the biggest difference between them and the rest of the contenders across the league.
So Wade is 100 percent right with these comments.
The most frustrating part of all this is that the fans know this. The front office knows this. And so does the coaching staff, even though they'd probably never admit it.
That's a big part of the reason why the Heat went all-in for Giannis Antetokounmpo at the NBA Trade Deadline, and why they decided to save their assets for another pursuit of the superstar forward during the offseason.
As much as they may not want to hear this, the honest truth is that the Heat desperately needs a star player. And until they get one, this franchise is just going to feel dull.